Why do I need a Safety Relay in my safety circuit?
Written by Brett Hook
Updated at October 18th, 2024
Question:
When designing a safety circuit for a machine, why should we use a Safety Relay instead of a non-safety relay?
Answer:
The action of a Safety Relay involves a forcibly-guided mechanism, which prevents the dual channel contact points from being in operating states at the same time, in the event of a welded contact. This also allows the Safety Relay to detect if contact welding has occurred within the relay itself.
A standard non-safety relay does not have this functionality.
Note that merely using a Safety Relay does not make a circuit ‘safe’, proper safety design, redundancy and self-monitoring functionality must all be combined to create a safety circuit for a machine. Please contact your Omron representative for further information.